Insyriated (In Syria)
(2018 Feature Film)

A mother attempts to keep her family safe as war rages and snipers lie in wait outside her home. The men are gone, and every day is just a struggle to survive until tomorrow. This nerve-wracking study of life in Damascus won an Audience Award at Berlinale.

In Damascus, a family is locked up in a house, while outside the area is being bombed and snipers lie in wait. Oum Yazan, the mother of three children desperately attempts to keep her family safe, waiting for her husband to come home. Meanwhile, the situation has escalated to such extent that neighbors and other family members are hiding in the apartment of Oum Yazan. Is it her husband who knocks or is it an enemy, threat or attack? The family lives in constant tension, fear, and danger.

Insyriated by director Phillipe van Leeuw shows a spectacle of people in an extreme situation that creates extreme emotions and behavior. Every decision is essential. Like the enemy's prey they are trapped in a bunker that once was a loving home base.

Phillipe VAN LEEUW (1954, Belgium) studied at the INSAS film school in Brussels. He then moved to Los Angeles to study cinematography at the American Film Institute. After returning to Europe, he made name for himself as a cinematographer with his camera work for The Life of Jesus (1997). He worked on several documentaries and commercials until he made the switch to directing fiction. In Syria (2017) is his second feature film.